Permit me space in your newspaper to draw the attention of the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, over the snail speed and poor execution of the Zaria-to-Pambegua road rehabilitation project, which was awarded to Proportion Construction and Dredge Works Limited. Contract for the rehabilitation of the road was awarded by the then Federal Ministry Power, Works and Housing in 2017, which Babatunde Fashola as the Minister in-charge. Following the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari and the reconstitution of the Federal Cabinet, Fashola was re-appointed as Works and Housing minister with the excision of ‘Power’ into a new independent ministry. It goes without saying since 2017, the project has been an eyesore. I do understand that the contractor has been paid a huge sum of money for the rehabilitation project, but not more than three kilometers of the whole stretch of the road has been done. Even from Zaria where the project work commenced, depressions and pothole dot the newly ‘rehabilitated’ portion of the road. The drainage system has been poorly constructed due to workmanship problems.
The poor condition of the road has led to the death of many commuters who ply the road on daily basis. It is sad to note that the road has become a death trap while men of underworld have taken over control of the road, extorting money commuters and drivers. They also carry out other nefarious activities with relative ease because of the terrible state of the road. The seeming wastage of millions of naira on this project is clearly begging for answers as people in affected communities continue to wallow in the trauma induced by the daily experience of plying the terrible and deplorable condition of the road. These people are subjected to enormous hardship. One is left to wonder whether the Federal Ministry of Works and the presiding minister are aware of the extremely poor quality work being done by the contractor. I am constrained to state that the contractor does not possess the requisite technical capacity and knowhow to execute the job. I think the Babatunde Fashola or the Zonal Federal Controller of Roads should visit the site for a personal assessment of the project. Such visit is long overdue. The contract period for the road rehabilitation project has long expired and yet there is nothing to write home about. From the evidence on ground, it is very clear that the contractor handling the project either lacks expertise or incompetent to do the job.
While other similar road rehabilitation contracts awarded the same year as the Zaria-Pambegua have since been completed and put to use, we are left with lamentations due to poor handling of the work by the contractor. A journey of less than an hour can take more than three or four hours due to the poor state of the road. The Federal Ministry of Works and all concerned authorities such as the Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai, Senator Suleiman Abdu Kwari and members of the House of Representatives, representing the affected local government areas should come to our aid. They should visit the project site drive through then return to Abuja to do the needful by leading a delegation the Minister of Works to ask questions. They owe the electorate in the affected local governments this simple service. That is why they were sent to Abuja to canvass for the welfare of the people.
• Ibrahim Mustapha Pambegua wrote from Kaduna State, via email